Monday, November 2, 2015

One of the most talented jewelry designers I have come across is Coco Paniora Salinas. I featured this Peruvian born artist before. He and his American wife, Melanie Vento, are the team behind Rumi Sumaq. While Coco is also wonderfully skilled in metal and wire work, his macrame designs are unique and stunning.

Rumi Sumaq now offers a unique opportunity to learn from Coco. Melanie explained, "We decided to launch our tutorials with what we heard people struggled with the most… creating macrame bezels for cabochons or stone wrapping." The bezel work is so important - it is where Coco begins his knotting for his stunning designs as shown below.

I was able to have a look at the course. Firstly, I was impressed that the instruction is available in both video and PDF formats. This is a remarkable offering which does address the differences in how people learn. Some prefer static formats. Others want to see an actual demo. In either case, the instructions are always available to be viewed again and again, at any time of the day.

Tuktu Macrame Necklace

Not only that, I had a choice of whether to learn on my computer or on my smartphone using the Gumoad app. Gumroad is an alternative marketplace which allows artists, designers, writers and so on to sell their digital or physical products easily without having to set up an online store.

Sacha Macrame Necklace

On the computer, the full course overview looks like this where the student can click on either format. I found it useful to watch the videos first and then rely on the PDFs to review the key steps. There are dozens of beautiful photographs for each of the PDFs. Tutorial 4 for instance, had 43 and Tutorial 5, 51.

Over on the smartphone app, the course overview is similar. Viewing on a smartphone is useful as you can have it set up on your worktable which, if we are to be honest, rarely has space for laptops! High resolution video will take a bit longer to copy over. If space is limited, especially on a phone is an issue then opt for the low resolution version. I didn't see much difference in quality between the two. Downloading the tutorial photos on a smartphone also takes up space.

Tutorial 1 covers the creation a bezel for a cabochon with a grooved edge. This is a lot easier to accomplish than working on a smooth edged cabochons. So the learner can concentrate on Coco's demonstration. His little visual tips include how to neatly manage so many strands of cord, the way he pulls, tightens the knots and controls tension.

The videos have no voiceovers. Instead there is a beautiful background track of Peruvian music (or you could just mute and use your own music). Having no vocal instructions means you can concentrate on the demonstration. The video controls include a rewind button. The slider button at the top allows you to advance or backtrack where you like.

Tutorial 2 is also a good beginner DIY . The overhand knots used give the design definition.

Tutorial 3 is more challenging as a macrame bezel has to be created to encompass the edges of a thick cabochon. Worthy tips on how to complete the circle neatly.

Tutorial 4 was outstanding as it deals with how to create a macrame bezel for the common flat back cabochon. These have no grooves to assist in tightening the bezel around the cabochon. The tutorial does not cover what to do with all the lengths of cords introduced.

Email subscribers need to scroll down the post they receive, click on Share Comment and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, November 9, 2015 . I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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You could say Pearl was born to be a jewelry designer with a name like that! She is the author of The Beading Gem's Journal now simply called The Beading Gem, a popular jewelry making, inspirational and how-to website. Subscribe for your daily dose of tips and tutorials and more

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comments:

Macrame bezels is something that has interested me for awhile-great way to make jewellery with cans or other stones without having the same cost that comes with using precious metal wire so good way to keep down price if selling pieces. Would love the tutorials! Can be contacted via retro-grrl@hotmail.com and am blog follower and subscriber.

Oh please! I know the basics of macrame from making plant hangers and the ole owl wall hangings way back when. I don't seem to be able to make those skills transfer over to jewelry other than the simplest on my own. I would LOVE the tutorials. thanks for offering them.

I would love to learn some new techniques for wrapping stones. So many interesting shapes out there that I haven't tried working with - yet! I follow your blog religiously, Pearl, and have learned so much from you already - many thanks for sharing all the great info!

I fell in love with macrame and micromacrame the first time I saw a pair of micromacrame earrings earlier this year on Pinterest, I was hooked. I have been desperately looking for tutorials and quickly realized that there aren't very many good ones. Video tutorials are the best since they let you watch the knots as they are made, but really descriptive picture tutorials are helpful as well. I have so many ideas for earrings and bracelets and having Rumi's tutorial will help me get a better understanding of this technique. Hope I win!!

Pick me! Pick Me! She says jumping up and down with her hand in the air! I am working with micro macrame and this would be awesome. I have stones I want to wrap.I am blog subscriber, FB follower, and Pinned the contestzanc@att.nethttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/365987907197664819/

What a great comment you wrote. Have been trying to make some bezels by you tube but miss a little bit the "clue". Would like to see a lot more. And to get all the micro macrame introduced in the Netherlands. So that a lot of people around will feel the joy of creating. Thank you for the comment and thanks to Rumi Sumaq of all the trouble they had, making those tutorials. And thanks for all the beautiful inspiration,

Rumi's work is gorgeous and I'd love the opportunity to learn from his techniques! I'm just starting to cet comfortable with stone wrapping and I know I can learn much more, but I don't have the extra cash to invest in the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to purchase the tutorials and better quality cord a bit later down the line. Macrame is truly a meditavea ne healing activity that has been helping me focus and bring positivity to my life in recent struggles.I can be reached at leah.carnevale@gmail.com

that would be an amazing prize to win, as some of my friends even convert macramé to wire-work in their pieces as well I am a blog, Facebook, Linked in and and twitter follower and also subscriber to your mailing list

Learning new skills in any form helps advance your creativity by leaps and bounds. I can see taking these tutorials and combining them with so much. How exciting is that!!

I'm always amazed that basic macrame has been applied to jewelry making and taken off in incredible directions. I love that people can think in this manner. It throws a 'knot' into jewelry designing that expands into something inspiring and beautiful!

Chuck my name in there my friend. I'll give the wheel of chance a spin.

I have been loving Rumi's designs for years now; am so glad he is receiving recognition for his beautiful work. I would love to win this tutorial set of course, but I am so excited it's available, at such a great price, that I will definitely be getting this soon!

The work of these artists stand out because of the beauty of the overall pieces. The flow of the knotting is outstanding, and the use of the color and shapes of the stones with the thread is quite outstanding.maryrdunbar@yahoo.com

HI PearlDo you rembered a long time ago we use macrame skill to make plant holder. Nothing to compare with those lovely cabochon and bracelet. Really want to win to learn this technique.linda.lalibarte@hotmail.com ..I'm a suscriber

Hi Pearl, wow, I love to macrame with jewelry. Usually just a band for a bracelet. To see this technique applied to those gorgeous stones is amazing. Thank you for another amazing giveaway. Love ya' Patricia B

This course is clearly produced by a macrame master and covers a number of very versatile and creative techniques. The instructions are clear with good quality supporting pictures. Brilliant! Love to work through it in detail.

I would love to win this opportunity to learn how to make this. Coco makes beautiful jewelery and I hope to be able to learn a bit from him. Love his work. Thank you so much for the chance to win such a wonderful gift. Many greetings, Judithdajutes@hotmail.com

I would love to win this. Working with my hands in silver smithing has gotten too hard to do. Took up some beading, but I would love to learn the art of macramé in doing the bezels. I absolutely love....LOVE the look of it and OMG...it is beautiful all the other things you can do to make beautiful pieces to wear or gift. With Christmas just around the corner, I think this would be perfect for gift giving. I would love to win these tutorials! ybliku2@hotmail.com